A Maldivian Dream

Probably the most underrated destination of the world - Maldives.

So less is said about it in comparison to the islands of Thailand, Seychelles and Mauritius. But my friends, I tell you this is nothing short of paradise. Ironically we stayed at Paradise Island Resort 20 minutes away by speedboat from Ibrahim Nasir International Airport.

Day One

International Airport, Speedboat Ride and Arrival at Paradise Island:

The Ibrahim Nasir International Airport is also called Hulhule and is situated on the North Atoll.

A ring shaped island or cluster of corals are more often referred to as an ‘atoll’. Paradise island resort was also called Lankanfinolhu.

Speedboats 

The visa is on arrival and free of cost for SAARC countries. Officers at the immigration were the most pleasing here than in any other country, I’ve traveled to. As we exit the airport you can see an array of counters with resort names. Tourists are expected to proceed to their respective counter as per their booking and the airport staff guide you to a speedboat.

Our baggage is taken care of and a huge leap sucks you into the airy speedboat. We find comfortable seating on the deck of the boat. The sun is scorching and penetrating the skin but the breeze forces a smile on your face. The color of water changes from sky blue to turquoise to deep blue. On our way to the resort we get a glimpse of the Male city, some smaller boats, other inhabited islands and people parasailing around us.

Crystal clear waters at Maldives

A bridge connects the docking area to the reception. We walk to the reception as our baggage is transferred by them to the lobby. We are given cold towels and a most needed welcome drink. The island is so beautiful that you start taking pictures of it till you get exhausted in a few minutes of trying to capture the beauty.

I wish I could capture everything my eyes saw.

Our Room and Day 1 at Paradise Island:

I was initially very disappointed that we had opted for the Beach view bungalow over the water villa as we needed two rooms at easy access and also the humongous price difference, however I fell in love with it instantaneously. It had an entry and exit. Entry was through a guided pathway with trees and creepers on one side walking you into the spacious room.

Pathway to rooms

It had a bathroom so big I could easily hear my own echo. There was an open air shower in a square room with ceiling opening to the skies, chirping of birds, few birdie visitors peeping in while you enjoy your shower. If you are more of a luxurious private person then a tub with shower curtain is also available. The room has a huge glass window overlooking the sea and heavy drapes which can be pulled to the side whenever you what to see the sun and waters.

Step out to chairs and a small private area where you can read and have a cup of coffee. Few more steps outside there are private sun bathing chairs.  And then again another few steps then you can bathe and snorkel in the pleasantly cold water

s.We ordered in a lunch of noodles and Nasi Goreng and had a lovely, much deserved afternoon nap.

By evening when the sun decided to cool off so I decided to snorkel in the waters outside my bungalow. Good quality snorkeling equipment was the best investment I’ve made this year. I waddled almost 500 meters into the sea to see the various wonders of the sea life.

Friendly baby blue fishes, the indifferent big flat ones with yellow tail, a school of synchronized swimmers in stripes and to my luck a lion fish who made my swim worthwhile by spreading its fins.

Crabs and crustaceans are not scared at all, they are always curious. They have bright eyes and look at you in awe.

The corals are everywhere and there in no landing space in the ocean. If you do then you scrape your skin against these corals. This is the most satisfying pain that you can get. As the sun sets we take a shower and walk around on the corpse white sands with crushed corals. You will be tempted to rub a few smooth shells on your face and a few rough corals on your palms.

This was heaven.

Dinner was elaborate. The walk to the ‘Bageeecha' restaurant helped us work up an appetite and there was an array of foods from salads to Indian, Italian, Maldivian, Chinese and European cuisine, water can be bought at 3.45 dollars after taxes and tastes the best. (I guess it is psychological to value something which is not easily available!)

Post dinner we walk back and decide to do some star gazing. The moon is up and shining and while we watch the stars in the night sky, the moon light gave us a view of the entire island. The water villas line into the sea with dim lighting. It’s not very breezy and it's humid, heavy and silent. You are conscious of every breath and you are the only person on the entire beach side gazing at the stars and listening to the winds and ocean.

A small drizzle and we are tucked up in the luxury of a comfortable bedding and next thing you know is dawn breaking.

Day Two

I wake up as early as 5.30 am for a walk by the shore and later to meditate under the rising sun. It is quite tricky. On one hand you are trying to concentrate, on the other the sun tries to bake your skin. Keeping my eyes tightly closed I can feel the freshness of the morning cleansing my soul.

Breakfast is baffling with a confused spread of croissants, breads, cold cuts, Indian, Chinese Japanese and European cuisines. We roam around clicking pictures of the island and find a hiding spot from the Sun under the short coconut trees. I decide to take a half way walk around the island walk on my own. The water life is definitely a wonder with cute conchs with life and color of the ocean changes from shallow to deep.

Water sports is probably the only physical activity available on the island with colorful catamarans breaking the monotony of different hues of blue. Today I decide to snorkel on a different part of the island. The better part of doing this in the blazing sun is to get a darker skin tone and go back to our country where skin whitening products sell more than anything else.

I gather confidence to wear a bikini (not yet the first preferred swim wear in India) and dive into the sea bed. Friendly fishes, angry puffed up puffer fish, and hey wait a minute who is the unwelcome visitor an arm distance. It's a baby shark. With immense flexibility it decided to not come in my way. If only I could explain how it feels to be snorkeling away in the clear water. It is a liberating feeling as your body feels light floating away (without life jackets of course), the magnifying lens of your eye guard magnifying the tiniest of fishes swimming by.

I feel drained out and exhausted still gleaming with the cheer of having swam with a shark. I soak myself in a tub of cold water and foam to realise that I have nearly burnt my skin to itchy patches of sun burn. Any regrets? Nothing at all.

I sleep as the sun takes revenge on the earth. By evening I regain my energy and is  hydrated with electrolyte drinks and lie on the beach reading a book. Evening is when everybody gathers on the bridge for shark feeding, I was expecting baby sharks but these were teenagers soon to be adults. They are agile and fighting for food being thrown into the ocean. A spotlight improves the view. You can see a lot of marlin fish trying to get hold of the leftovers. After the feeding is done for the day the sharks still roam under the floating restaurant, but this is the same place where we were snorkeling this morning. I still don't understand that they come only for their food by evening and vanish during the day.

We head for dinner and go for sting ray feeding by the sea shore. Sting ray is a docile underwater being till you stamp on its tail or try to grab them. You are allowed to feed it and they roam around for some more food. Surprisingly the sharks and sting rays come up to the shore for food. They didn’t seem scared, didn't seem friendly either.

Day 3

Knowing that this is the last day of the trip I decide to make the most of the day light for prefect pictures. The sea is as beautiful as ever and the skies giving competition. I wake up as early as 5.20 am and walk to the other side of water villas to capture the sunrise. The clouds make way and skies clear up for the magnificent sun. It takes it time to rise up and shine.

The sky changes color from grey to orange to peach to clear blue. After sunrise the atmosphere is rather humid and all the walking is making me sweat. It’s thanks to the occasional breeze and waves touching your feet that cools you out. I take the long bridge with water villas on either side, I walk straight to come face to face with the sun. On either side you can see coral reefs and various aquatic fishes some solo and some in schools.

Walkway with Water Villas on either side

Post the elaborate breakfast I sleep for a while and also watch a movie on my iPad. After lunch I walked (with my umbrella, fearing being set ablaze by the sun) to a point where the seas join above a sand bed. You can feel the strong currents in the water but I still did manage to click a picture there.

Once the tide was higher than it was in the morning I snorkeled to the other end of the sea to the reef line. The feeling is amazing as you breathe through your mouth to complete content, blocking water away from the eyes and nose.

The reef area is now in front of me. Corals shine like led lights, yellow stripes fishes give me a curious look, a green fish rubbed against my skin repeatedly, a schools of black babies look for food. I now swim above the reef with the entire sea life under me. As I push the water forward I feel a score of pain. I scrape my knee on one of the corals and bleed. The redness of blood diluting in sea water infuses a fear in me if I would attract a few sharks or eels.

I swim back to the shore in total dismay that I had to end the swim and proceed to shark feeding.

Shark feeding:

The end of the bridge leads to the restaurant. The restaurant is perched up on pillars from the ocean. By 6 pm you start spotting baby to large sharks swimming around waiting for their daily portion of fish. 10 kilos of tuna is fed to the sharks every evening.

The tourists also start coming together standing near the railings. The spotlight focuses on the ocean bed and the chef from the restaurant comes with a tray of fish. They jump and slide over each other to get a bite of the fish. It's clearly a survival of the fittest amongst the Sharks. If you keep focusing on one shark out of the 25-30 of them you cannot say that all of them get a bite of the fishes. Then they come back at the same time the next day to try their luck.

I guess today is full moon day.

The dim lighting doesn't seem all that dim today.

After dinner we head to sting ray feeding.
Unlike the Sharks these are just about 5 of them and one being a shy baby.

The adults like to be petted and are quite friendly, one by one we can walk to the shore get your share of fish in your hand and slowly entice the fish to come to you. Getting close to the tail could be fatal.

Day 4 

Today we are checking out in a while there is still one side of the island unexplored. We walk from the beach villa to the right till we reach a dead end. There are short trees, rough sands, water with strong currents, the topography is different from the other part of the island. We walk to end of it click a few pictures and come back and check out to the airport by Speedboat again.

Map of the Island

Outside the room

Friendly life on the Island

Shallow waters meeting the deep from where the sharks come in

Restaurant near Shark Feeding area

Low tide

Evenings

Maldives is one country where there is least possibility for a tourist to experience its Capital city Male and Currency Maldivian Rufiyaa. As beautiful as this country is it is best recommended that you give its crowded city a miss.

The biggest decision before visiting Maldives will be to decide which island to stay on as there are about 1000 islands which are part of 26 Atolls in Maldives. Very rarely do you meet a Local or hear them speak their local language but if you have your dollar and you speak English then you are qualified for  a Maldivian Tour

How to get there: Spice Jet, Air India and Maldivian Airlines connects you to the city from where you can take a speed boat or Sea Plane to the resorts. For Indians, it is recommeded that you take a flight from Trivandrum or Kochi for cheapest and closest options.

What to do while you are there:

Day tours like dolphin watching, Snorkelling, Scuba diving on the reefs, Fishing, water sports  and Island Hopping can be organised on Package basis.

Food: Local Maldivian cuisine is Rice and Tuna in abundance. Resorts serve all cuisines possible but do alot a day for Local Male Cuisine.Taro and Cassava is also boiled and served with spicy Curry. Coconut based Puddings and Gravy's are also an important element in their Local cuisine.

Dressing: The temperature is Moderately hot to hot and allows you to wear crisp cottons and linens. In the resort you are allowed to wear swim wear and bikinis in the waters but it is advised to dress conservatively in the City with your shoulder and ankles covered. Don't even bother packing your heels. there is no place on the island where you can skip walking on the sands.

Special Note: Alcohol, Water, Dining and Water Sports activity is very expensive on the islands.
Carry Slippers, Snorkel Equipment and Swimwear.
High SPF Suncreen and after care lotions are a must.
Keep yourself highly hydrated.

Maldives is definitely a must visit haven for family and honey mooners equally. It gives you time to introspect and unwind and sometimes also make you wish for a castaway life on a far off island.